Apparatus



Jan. 8, 1946. D; L. WEBB 2,392,349

APPARATUS Filed June 21, 1944 3 Sheets-Sheet l DwW'JLocke abb INVENTOR-BY W" K," I

A T TORNEY D. L. WEBB Jan. 8, 1946.

APPARATUS Filed June 21, 1944 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 DamJJLacIce Mu,

Jan. 8, 1946.

D,. WEBB APPARATUS Filed June 21, 1944 Daw'dLooke I Vebb BY A.

3 Sheets-Sheet 3 INVENTOR.

ATTORNEY Patented Jan. 8, 1946 APPARATUS David Locke Webb. Buffalo, N.Y., assignor to E. I. du Pont de Nemours & Company, Wilmington, DeL, acorporation of Delaware Application June 21, 1944, Serial No. 541,409

2 Claims. (Cl. 74394)' This invention relates to an improved apparatusfor the conversion of uniform speed rotary motion to variable speedrotary motion. The apparatus of this invention has particular utilityfor driving a viscose delivery pump at a variable speed in theproduction ofyarn having variations in denier along the length thereof.

It is an object of this invention to provide an improved apparatus whichis adapted to convert the uniform speed rotary motion of a drive shaftto a variable rotatory motion.

It is another object of this invention to provide means for driving ashaft at speeds varying in accordance with a definite and predeterminedpattern.

It is another object of this invention to provide an improved apparatusfor-driving a pump which feeds a filament-forming composition to aspinneret at a variable speed in accordance with a definite patternwhereby to produce a yarn having thick and thin sections along thelength thereof.

Other objects of the invention will appear hereinafter.

The above objects may be accomplished, in general, by the provision ofan apparatus comprising a planetary gear system in which the central sungear is connected to the output, or driven shaft, the sun gear beingdriven, through a plurality of planet gears, by means of an internalgear, in combination with means to oscillate the planet gears betweenthe sun gear and internal gear in accordance with a definite pattern andin accordance therewith vary the speed of the sun gear and output shaft.

The output or driven shaft may be connected by means of a gear trainor'the like to the shaft of a pump which feeds a filament-formingcomposition to a spinneret for the spinning of arti ficial filaments.

The details of the invention will be more readily comprehended byreference to the following description when taken in connection with theaccompanying illustrations, in which:

Fig. 1 is a vertical,cross-sectional view of the embodiment of apparatusconstructed in accordance with the principles of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of-the appa-' ratus of Fig. 1 withcertain parts removed-to show the main drive, and the cam and leverarrangement.

Fig. 3 is a perspective, diagrammatic view showing the manner in whichthe apparatus of Figs. '1 and 2 may be positioned between a var-- iabledrive unit and a spinneret pump.

Referring to Figs. 1 and 2 of the drawings reference numeral ldesignates the input or drive shaft which is supported in bearingsmounted in the end walls of the casing II. A drive worm I2 is keyed toshaft ill in a position to mesh with and drive worm wheels i4 and 32.Worm wheel I4 is fixedly mounted on bushing l6 which is p htioned torotate on'stud shaft l8. A pinion gear 28 is also fixedly mounted onbushing i6. The pinion 20 is in driving engagement with spur gear 22positioned on shaft 24. The cam 26 is fastened to spur gear 22 by meansof screws 25 and rotates in unison therewith as the gear turns aboutshaft 24. The cam 26 is adapted to actuate the cam lever 28 through camroller 36 positioned on the end of lever 28.

The cam surface of cam 26 is of irregular contour having a. number ,oflobes of different sizes and shapes so as to oscillate cam lever 28 atdifferent speeds and distances. As will appear from the description thatfollows, this oscillation of lever 28 will impart a varying rotationalspeed to output shaft 46.

Worm wheel 32 is fixedly mounted on bushing 38 which rotates aboutsupport plate 48. The bushing 38 and worm wheel 32 are held in place onplate 40 by thrust washer 42 and a 'number of cap screws 44. An internalgear 34 is fastened to worm wheel 32 by means of screws 36. The rotationof input shaft Iii is therefore directly imparted to internal gear 34and the rotational speed of the internal gear 34 will be'as constant asthe rotational speed of input shaft l0. Except for a very gradual,slight change in speed to compensate for yarn winding speed, shaft i8and internal gear 34 will be operated at a constant speed when used inthe spinning of yarns. The rotation of internal gear 34 is transmitted,through planet gears 48, to sun gear 64. Planet gears 48 (usually threein number) rotate on bearings 58 which are held in position on studs 52.One end of studs 52 is mounted in planet gear support cap 54 which isfixed to an oscillating shaft 56 and the other end is mounted in planetgear support ring shaft 56.

58. The support ring 58 is attached to support cap 54 by spacers 68 andcap screws 62. As above indicated, planet gears 48 mesh with sun gear 64which is integral with output shaft 46. Output shaft 46 is supported inbearing 66, and the end 68 of the shaft is supported in bearing I8 whichis pressed into the end of oscillating The output shaft 46, in theabsence of speed changes imparted by the oscillating shaft 56, will havea uniform speed through wor'm wheel 32,

internal gear 34, planet gears 48 and sun'gear 64.

are mounted on shaft 66 and are held in position by lock nut 18. Shaft56 is supported on bearings 88 that are mounted in support plate 48, thelatter being fastened to casing II by cap screws 82. Support plate 40 isfixed and has mounted thereon by means of bushings 88 and cap screws 98,a plurality (usually three) of planet gears 84. The planet gears 84 arepositioned on bearings 86 which are mounted on bushings 88. The bearings86 are held in place by means of snap rings 92. Planet gears 84 meshwith sun gear 94 which is keyed to shaft 56 so as to rotate therewith.

It will now be apparent that shaft 56 is rotated clockwise andcounter-clockwise as the internal gear I2 is oscillated by the action ofcam lever 28, and this oscillating motion is transmitted through planetgears 84 to shaft 56. Of course, if the cam lever is held fixed, shaft56 will be maintained stationary.

As previously pointed out, planet gear support cap 54 is fixed to shaft56 to rotate therewith. Since planet gears 48 are mounted on cap 54,they will be oscillated together with shaft 56 to impart a variablerotational speed to sun gear 64 and output shaft 46.

Since internal gear 34 rotates at a constant uniform rotational speed,and transmits this rotation to planet gears 48, the speed of outputshaft 46 will vary as the oscillation of cam lever 28 and shaft 56. Bythe cooperation of the two planetary drives, the speed of output shaft46 is either increased in speed and then maintained temporarily at auniform speed, or the speed is decreased to a normal uniform speed. Inthis manne the speed is varied in accordance with the abrupt or gradual,as desired.

Referring to Fig. 3 of the drawings, the input drive shaft I8, ofvariable speed apparatus such as described with reference to Figs. 1 and2 of the drawings, may be made integral with the output shaft I86 of aspeed transmission I05. The mechanism is driven in a known manner, andis provided with means for very gradually increasing the rotationalspeed of output shaft I06. The means for increasing the rotational speedof output shaft I86 comprises a well-known mechanism and since thisforms no part of the present invention, it need not be described in thisapplication.

The output shaft 46 of the variable speed mechanism is connected indriving engagement with the drive shaft II8 of pump I20. Pump I28 isconnected through member I2I to an inlet conduit I22 and through memberI23 to outlet conduit I24 for a filament-forming composition, forexample, a viscose solution. Outletconduit I 24 is connected to aspinneret I26 through which the filament-forming composition is pumpedfor the formation of filaments. Since the pump I28 will be driven by thevariable speed shaft 46 at different speeds it will force thefilament-forming composition through the spinneret I26 at differentrates. The yarn is drawn from the coagulating bath I3I by feed wheelI33. Feed wheel I 33 is driven by shaft I 86 of the mechanism through aworm I35, gears I31, I39, I4I, I43, I45 and I4].

The rate of withdrawal'of the formed filaments, therefore, will beconstant relative to the speed rotation of input shaft III. As a result,the filaments formed will have thick and thin sections along the lengththereof in accordance with the variations in speed imparted to pumpshaft I I8.

The apparatus of the present invention is not limited by the specificconstruction described and illustrated. Fo example, any combination ofspeed changes, can be obtained by altering the shape and speed of thecam 26. The cam 26 and cam lever 28 could, of course, be replaced byknown equivalent mechanical means for oscillating internal gear I2, thelatter could, for example, be operated in a known manner by means ofv areversible electric motor.

Prior to the present invention, the preferred construction of apparatusfor the production of thick and thin ,yarn included the use of twopumps; a constant speed pump and a large capacity, intermittentlyoperating pump. Th constant speed pump supplied the composition deliveryfor the base yarn and the intermittently operating pump supplied thecomposition delivcry to provide thicker sections along the length of thebase yarn. By the use of the apparatus of this invention, when appliedto yarn spinning devices, only one spinning pump is necessary, and thickand thin yarn sections of almost any length and cross-section can beproduced thereby.

The apparatus of this invention also has the advantage of easy and quickchange-over from a variable speed transmission to a constant speedtransmission. It is only necessary that the cam lever be fastened in agiven position to change the speed of output shaft 46 from a variablespeed to a constant speed. This may be accomplished in any desiredmanner, for example, by disconnecting cam 26 from spur gear 22, or byremoving the cam 26 and rigidly fastening cam lever 28.

The apparatus of the present invention makes possible the production ofa yarn having comparatively long sections of heavy denier yarn a1-ternating with sections of light denier yarn. The yarn may be made withone, two, three or four 0 yard lengths of either heavy or light denieryarn sections.

Since it is obvious that many changes and modifications can be made inthe above described details without departing from the nature and spiritof the invention, it is to be understood that the invention is not to belimited by the above-described details except as set forth in theappended claims.

I claim:

1. An apparatus adapted to convert uniform speed rotary motion tovariable speed rotary motion, said apparatus having, in combination, aninput shaft and an output shaft, a planetary gear system, comprising aninternal gear, a sun gear and a plurality of planet gears, fortransmitting rotary motion from said input shaft to said output shaft,said sun gear being fixedly connected with said output shaft, and camoperated planetary gear means driven by said input shaft for oscillatingthe planet gears meshing with the sun gear and internal gear to vary thspeed of the output shaft.

2. An apparatus adapted to convert uniform speed rotary motion tovariable speed rotary motion and having, in combination, two planetarygear systems each comprising planet gears and a sun gear, means forimparting an oscillatory motion to the sun gear of one planetary gearsystem, and means connecting said sun gear to the shafts of the planetgears of said other planetary gear system whereby to oscillate theplanet gears of said other planetary gear system about the sun gearthereof.

DAVID LOCKE WEBB.

